Will slumping New York Yankees pull out of their tailspin and make the playoffs?

APNew York Yankees' Andy Pettitte, left, and Alex Rodriguez are two of the players the Yankees are banking on down the stretch. Rodriguez just returned from an injury, while Pettitte is expected back later this month.

Normally it is the right move to not panic about a skid for the New York Yankees, but this is different. This time it’s for real.

The Yankees and their problems are being exposed, and while it’s far too early to say they are collapsing, the signs of something ugly happening are there. They have lost 10 of their last 15 games and the only win they had in the last week (before Wednesday's 6-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays) was a gifted one thanks to the Baltimore Orioles, the team that was tied with them for first place in the American League East entering play on Wednesday. New York's win and Baltimore's loss on Wednesday has given the Yankees a one-game lead in the division heading into their four-game set tonight.

So, what is wrong? Can it be fixed? Are the Yankees cooked as the Orioles and Rays have proven to be legitimate contenders in their division?

Starting pitching

Over the past week it has been awful, but the problem extends deeper. Going back to the start of August, the pitching staff as a whole has a 4.10 ERA and through the past four games the starters have a 6.43 ERA.

This isn’t a surprise, really. The pitching has been a problem for a while now and when the team lost CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte to the disabled list on the same day in June, everyone figured the lineup would have to carry the team.

Sabathia is back from the DL (for a second time) and since his return he’s delivered three quality starts, allowing six earned runs during those outings. But even with that, he has to be better. The Yankees don’t need quality, they need dominance and Sabathia is the only pitcher on their staff capable of giving them that.Which team will win the AL East title?
Hiroki Kuroda has been their most consistent arm, and that’s all good. But this team needs their ace to pull them up by the collar and lead them out of this funk, which he has the talent to do. Sabathia’s next turn comes Saturday in Baltimore, and considering the Orioles are one of the clubs challenging the Yankees, a return to true ace form can’t come at a better time.

The lineup

The one thing the Yankees have never lacked in recent memory is the ability to score. For the season they rank in the league’s top four in runs, OBP, slugging, OPS and of course they lead the AL by a mile in home runs.

Lately, you wouldn’t know it, though. Over their last 14 games, the Yankees are hitting .204 and are averaging just over three runs a game. Over their last eight games they have just 47 hits.

Rays starter Alex Cobb, who isn’t exactly an ace, shut down the Yankees on Tuesday and the frustration is becoming public as manager Joe Girardi went on a tirade and was ejected Tuesday after Chris Dickerson was not granted a timeout in the batter’s box and struck out looking.

It’s also become public with comments to the media.

“There’s pressure, obviously,” hitting coach Kevin Long told the New York Daily News. “You’ve got a 10-game lead and it’s down to zero. Guys are probably trying to do too much.

“We were so good for so long at banging the ball out of the park. When that starts to go the other way, that’s when you start to think a little differently and have a different approach. We might start having some guys bunt until we get going. … It’s something we’ll talk about.”

Granted, there have been injuries, but if the day comes when a team with a $198 million payroll has to start bunting to score, we’ll know it’s at rock bottom.

The threats

As the Yankees have gone into panic mode, the Orioles and Rays have gotten hot. Baltimore has won 12 of its past 17, just won a series in New York and will play the Yankees again this weekend. Tampa Bay had won four consecutive games, before losing to the Yankees on Wednesday and is a legitimate threat (2½ games behind the the Yankees through Wednesday).

The Rays won their series against the Yankees, but the schedule doesn’t let up. They play the Texas Rangers, Orioles and Yankees again in their next three series. As for Baltimore, its gets the Yankees, Rays and the Oakland A’s, who are tied for the wild-card lead with the Orioles.

Can the Yankees hold off these charging teams? Yes, they can. This is the hot and cold of a long baseball season, however, there is no guarantee that in the final month you will come out of the “cold.” Just ask the Atlanta Braves and Boston Red Sox.

Here is what the Yankees need to snap out of it: Sabathia to pitch as he’s paid, Kuroda to not miss a beat and continue to give the team stability, the lineup to start producing like the Bombers they are known as and get healthy, which has already started to happen with Alex Rodriguez returning to the lineup this week.

Not only that but the team’s final 10 games of the season are against the Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays and Red Sox. Combined those teams were 51 games under .500 entering play Wednesday.

The Yankees aren’t done by any stretch of the most vivid imagination, but they are buckling over as things stand. And unless they can find their legs, and do so in a hurry, the teams running them down will eventually skip past them and we’ll be talking about another big payroll team collapsing in September.